Each month guitar picker and Webmaster
Bob Howe brings you the latest Country Music happenings on the
Internet.You can surf your way from month to month, or why not bookmark the main index for the complete contents! Why not join our mailing list below for notification of each new column? |
"YOUR SPACE OR MYSPACE?"
Do bands really get discovered on the World Wide Web?
You may have read in the mainstream press that rock band Arctic Monkeys were discovered on MySpace.com and are now a worldwide phenomenon. Well, the hype rollercoaster has gathered way too much speed on that story and in fact it was their loyal fan base that helped distribute their early recordings via various websites and really got the ball rolling for the group. It cannot be ignored though, that there is an explosion of music happening on MySpace which was originally designed as "an online community that lets you meet your friends' friends". Pop Art icon Andy Warhol said, "In the future everyone will be famous for fifteen minutes" and he may well have been predicting MySpace and blogs. There are many country music artists to be found at MySpace.com (just search for their name when you get there) but be aware some pages for bigger names are run by publicists or fans and you may not be talking to the artist themselves. Time will tell how much value these pages will have but there is an air of immediacy about them that has some added appeal.
DVD REVIEWS KRIS KRISTOFFERSON - LIVE FROM AUSTIN TX 
This televised concert from September 1981 captures Kristofferson in his prime as a performer after a dark period and is almost a 'greatest hits' collection in terms of the songs. Classics like Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down, For The Good Times, Why Me? and Help Me Make It Through The Night cement his position as a master country songwriter and a lively reworking of Me And Bobby McGee shows off his joy of performing. He was quoted at the time as saying, "the music's a little closer to the soul because I'm creating and controlling the whole show." Indeed he is in command and the band is right with him (including the legendary Billy Swan). Brilliant!New West NW8026 (via Shock in Australia) 57 Mins
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DVD REVIEW
ABC Music via Warner Music 5101137292 68 Mins plus extras
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each month on the radio waves with
Barbara Morison
on 2SER (107.3 FM in Sydney and on the Web)
and listen for Big Bob from Bondi every Saturday night with
John Nutting on Saturday Night Country (your Local ABC Radio and the Web).
This DVD compiles 20 country hits; all performed live by the artists best associated with the songs. Many of the performances are 'guest spots' taken from the Marty Robbins television show and as well as Robbins himself we get Freddy Fender (Before The Next Teardrop Falls), Donna Fargo (Happiest Girl In The Whole USA), Charley Pride (Crystal Chandeliers), plus Waylon, Willie, Patsy, and Faron Young. The booklet inside the box has short biographies of all the stars within. Brilliant memories, especially The Kendalls (Heaven's Just A Sin Away) and, worth the price alone, George Jones (He Stopped Loving Her Today).